Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell is considering prohibiting the translation of his popular books into Hebrew after the Israeli attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

"I am a best-selling author in Israel and I must consider seriously whether I should block my books from being translated to Hebrew," the author of the popular Wallander series of detective novels told daily Dagens Nyheter.

"At the same time, I don't want this to hurt the wrong people. I have to think this through," he added.

Mankell was one of 11 Swedes who participated in the aid flotilla -- consisting of six ships carrying 682 people from 42 countries -- which was attacked by Israeli commando soldiers early Monday leaving at least nine people dead.

The 62-year-old author, whose books about world-weary detective Kurt Wallander have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and have been adapted to film and television, said he was struggling to understand "the stupidity" of the Israeli attack.

"If they had wanted to stop us without losing face, they could have broken the propellers or the rudder and towed away the ships. But to consciously go into a violent confrontation and kill people, I just don't understand it," Mankell said.

"Israel has never before been so condemned. Israel has painted itself into a corner. The world does not look the same as it did a week ago," added the author.

Upon his return to Sweden late Tuesday, Mankell charged that "all the ships (in the flotilla) were hijacked, and this was really piracy."

"What will happen next year when we come back with hundreds of boats? Will (Israel) fire a nuclear bomb?" he asked.

At the time I saw emails or texts (in a reliable paper)that were supposed to come from Mankell. I still wonder if they were real. He said he would stop exporting books to Israel, and made some pretty disgusting generalizations about the Israelis, which I would call anti-semetic. Until find out what he really said I wont be reading or watching any more Wallender. Perhaps he should drop the US too.

San Ramo manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, 12 June 1994

67. Merchant vessels flying the flag of neutral States may not be attacked unless they:(a) are believed on reasonable grounds to be carrying contraband or breaching a blockade, and after prior warning they intentionally and clearly refuse to stop, or intentionally and clearly resist visit, search or capture;

Is Mankell now going to stop publishing books in Swedish? Time now to get on with the job of writing, and writing to communicate; most of all to the people you disagree with. Singling out one people and one language group may not necessarily be anti-Semitic but it's sometimes pretty hard to spot the difference - double standards on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict only exacerbate the problem.

The issues around Gaza are fearfully complex, good will and any sense of a way forward seems to be gone for good on all sides, and pointless analogies with apartheid and the Berlin Wall don’t suggest Mankell has anything helpful to contribute to the cause of peace in Palestine. If he has, he should do what he does best, write it down, and make sure that the first translations that come out are in Hebrew and Arabic.

@upThey tried to kill them with kitchen knifes after they were ilegally attacked and shooted (before commando went into ship - Israeli propaganda says it was by "non-lethal weapons", but still it makes perfectly clear why those people attacked commandos with everything they had in hand) on full sea? Please, take your awful lies somewhere else.BTW, I know some Israeli and I must gladly state not all of them are so brain washed extreme nationalists.

you may find it hard to believe but even if you were the best writer in the world (and you are not even close) we would manage without your books. it would be a wise decision of your part to stop the hebrew translation since no one will buy your books in israel anymore. i dont believe in god but i want to believe that you will be punished for the lies you tell and the mask of purity you wear. your "humainitery" friends tried to kill our people and got what they asked for.